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2 tablespoons Banana Courtyard's 3 Pep Mix (substitute 1 tablespoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper)
1 tablespoon ground sea salt (substitute 2 tablespoons regular salt)
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Be sure you store this in an airtight container.
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(barbeque is a misnomer, but that's what we call it here)
This recipe is for two people.
Ingredients;
1 lb. shrimp (21-25/lb. or larger), heads on
1 stick butter
1 stick margarine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh garlic
dash Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice
4 ounces beer
2 teaspoons Banana Courtyard Famous 3 Pep Mix (alternate, to taste, pinch of crushed red pepper, caynne pepper, salt, white pepper, and black pepper)
Directions;
Saute shrimp in butter (with pepper) 4-5 minutes. Turn over when shrimp are pink. Reduce heat, add garlic and saute 1 minute more. Add 'dash' items, cover, and simmer 2-3 more minutes. Dish is best when refrigerated overnight, then reheated, as it intensifies flavors.
Reheating direction;
Place in preheated 400 degreee oven for 6-8 minutes or until butter bubbles. Yum, yum..is your mouth watering yet? Serve with French or Sourdough bread for drippy butter sauce. Have lots of napkins/paper towels ready as this is very messy!
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This is a great side dish for Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner.
Ingredients:
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup orange juice
2 cans chicken stock
1 cup of Wild Rice
2-3 Tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, chopped into bite size pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
1-2 cups mushrooms, sliced (if you don’t like mushrooms, delete this item)
1 teaspoon red pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups almonds or pecans, toasted
1 cup dried, pitted cherries (Thanksgiving or Christmas? You might use dried cranberries)
a few sprigs of flat Italian parsley for use as garnish
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease deep (2 quart) Pyrex baking dish. Toast nuts.
In bowl, add wine, orange juice, chicken stock and rice. Let soak 30 minutes.
In iron or other heavy skillet, melt 2-3 Tablespoons butter. Slowly sauté the following ingredients until onions are translucent: onions, garlic, mushrooms; red pepper, and salt.
Add toasted almonds.
Combine sautéed ingredients with wild rice mixture and add cherries. Pour all ingredients into the deep, greased baking dish.
Bake covered in oven at 375 degrees F for 1 ½ hours.
Check rice to see if it’s fully cooked (kernel is split and slightly puffed).
If not, add ½ cup water, cover and cook ½ hour more.
Garnish with parsley.
Preparation time: 1.5 hours
Yield: 6 servings.
Serve in casserole dish.
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In the 1950s, New Orleans was the major port of entry for bananas shipped from Central and South America. Owen Edward Brennan challenged his talented chef, Paul Blangé, to include bananas in a new culinary creation-Owen's way of promoting the imported fruit. Simultaneously, Holiday Magazine had asked Owen to provide a new recipe to appear in a feature article on Brennan's.
In 1951, Chef Paul created Bananas Foster. The scrumptious dessert was named for Richard Foster, who, as chairman, served with Owen on the New Orleans Crime Commission, a civic effort to clean up the French Quarter. Richard Foster, owner of the Foster Awning Company, was a frequent customer and a very good friend of Owen.
Little did anyone realize that Bananas Foster would become an international favorite and is the most requested item on the restaurant's menu. Thirty-five thousand pounds of bananas are flamed each year in the preparation of its world-famous dessert.
Over the years, we’ve modified their recipe to suit our guests taste. Here it is.
Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup banana liqueur
• 4 bananas, cut in half lengthwise
• 4 ounces dark rum
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
• 4 scoops vanilla ice cream
Directions:
Mix butter and brown sugar in a skillet until it’s a creamy paste.
Place the pan over low heat on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. (It will carmelize after about 5-minutes.)
Stir in the banana liqueur, then place the bananas in the pan.
When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum.
Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum. Agitate to keep flame burning. Add a few pinches cinnamon (Voodoo magic!) to the flame.
When the flames subside, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces on plate. Add scoop of ice cream over each banana.
Generously spoon warm sauce over the top of the ice cream and serve immediately.
Serves Four.
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..Cajun Maquechoux (pronounced mock shoe)is a smothered dish made with fresh corn.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1/3 cup bacon drippings or olive oil
• 2 packages** frozen crawfish tails, thawed. OR 1 package crawfish and 1 pound fresh medium shrimp, peeled and deveined. SUBSTITUTE: If crawfish not available, use all shrimp. (**NOTE: crawfish tails are fairly widely available now, in the frozen seafood section, usually in 12 or 16 ounce packages. They are already parboiled, so don't overcook).
• 6 cups of fresh white corn, cut off cob. If white corn is not available substitute yellow corn, but it’s not as traditional. Substitute 1 pound frozen corn if fresh is not available
• 2 tablespoons of heavy cream
• 3 cups chopped onion
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 3 large creole tomatoes, coarsely chopped (if good, flavorful fresh tomatoes aren’t available, substitute one can chopped tomatoes, using only half the liquid).
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat, Italian parsley. If ingredient not available, omit.
• 2 teaspoons salt
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 teaspoon (or more to taste) freshly ground black pepper OR Banana Courtyard Famous 3-Pep Seasoning.
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ½ stick butter
• ½ teaspoon Tabasco or other hot sauce
Marinate crawfish in the white wine and the juice of ½ lemon.
When you cut the kernels off the cob, then scrape the cob, with a knife, to get the liquid. Add the cob liquid. If fresh corn isn't in season, substitute can or frozen corn and add 3 EXTRA tablespoons heavy cream in place of corn cob liquid.
In a large iron skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.
Saute the bell peppers, about 3 minutes, then add onions (cover skillet to speed process).
When bell pepper and onion are softened, lower the heat (try not to brown them). Remove and put (reserve) this in a bowl.
Put the corn, corn liquid, butter, and cream, in the skillet. Mix thoroughly. Cook on medium heat, 10 minutes.
Add tomatoes, reserved onion and bell pepper, plus salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add crawfish and shrimp, part of the marinade, white wine, then cook for 4-6 minutes, stirring frequently.
If mixture seems too dry, add 2-3 tablespoons of reserved marinade or chicken stock, toward end of cooking period.
Taste for seasoning.
Serve hot in wide soup bowls. This dish is even better when refrigerated for several hours or overnight and reheated before serving.
If you are already an experienced Cajun cook, please excuse the level of detail in this recipe.
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If you can get fresh turtle meat this soup is out of this world. If y’all come to town and stay with us we’ll check the market around the corner and if they have live cowan they can strip out the meat, pack it and ship it to you.
• 3 onions
• 6 stalks celery
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup Lea & Perrins Worchestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup Crystal hot sauce (much less if you use Tabasco brand)
• 4 large fresh tomatoes or 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 3 chopped green onions
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 green bell peppers chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons oregano
• 1 cup dry sherry
• 2 pounds turtle meat
• 3 hard boiled eggs
• chopped Italian, flat leaf parsley
• peel of one lemon
Boil two pounds of boneless turtle meat in two quarts of water for an hour and a half. Take out meat and reserve stock.
Chop turtle meat into half-inch cubes. It will probably shred up. That is good.
Chop onions, celery, peppers, and garlic.
Bring oil to heat in a nice, thick pot at least eight quarts.
Cook down the seasoning until it is very, very soft, stirring often.
Add basil and oregano.
Add flour slowly, cooking this roux for a few minutes.
Add diced tomatoes, hot sauce, Lea & Perrins, sherry and turtle stock, stirring constantly.
Add turtle meat and the chopped peel of the lemon, when this thick mixture comes to heat add at least another quart or two of water to thin out the mixture.
After this boils slowly for 30 minutes, add coarse chopped egg and green onions and parsley.
Add salt and pepper.
Cook five more minutes.
You may need to adjust the hot sauce and Lea & Perrins to suit your taste.
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(pronounced craw fish A too fay)
“First you make a roux.” (If you have ever used a New Orleans recipe before, this should sound VERY familiar!). Please refer to our separate Roux recipe.
Here are the New Orleans’ “holy trinity” ingredients:
• 4 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper (green, sweet pepper)
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 4 tablespoons chopped garlic
Other ingredients:
• 1 can chicken stock (for you die hard cooks, you can make the chicken stock from scratch)
• 1 pounds of crawfish tails (frozen tails are OK)
• 2-4 tablespoons of LA Hot Sauce (less, if Tabasco Sauce)
• pinch of Cayenne pepper
• dash of lemon juice
• 3 teaspoons Creole Seasoning (Zatarain’s brand seasoning or make from scratch – see our Creole Seasoning recipe)
Optional garnish: sprinkle on some finely chopped green onions and flat leaf Italian parsley
Add the seasonings and “holy trinity” to the roux.
In a separate pot, heat east chicken stock to boil, gradually stir in roux until well blended. Cook over medium heat for about 20-minutes.
Now, add crawfish, then cook 10 more minutes.
Serve over rice
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first you make a roux, here's how...
If you have ever used a New Orleans recipe before, this should sound VERY familiar!).
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup of butter (for a real heart clogger, some of us use ½ lard. The faint of heart will substitute oil for butter)
• pinch of salt and pepper, to taste
Heat seasoned, iron skillet. Melt butter slowly, then add flour, sprinkling it in and stirring constantly, until color is delicate brown. Don’t let it get too brown, as continued cooking will occur with addition of remaining ingredients. This should take about 20-minutes (We never said this would be quick. New Orleanians usually cheat and buy prepared roux in a jar.)
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Mirlitons (pronounced MEL-lee-tawns or MER-lee-tawns) are a type of squash found growing wild and in backyards throughout southern Louisiana. They're pale green, with a delicate flavor and a large, dense central seed. In other parts of the country, they're called chayote squash. I
We've used them as the primary ingredient in this variation on the classic ratatouille. If you don't want to grill the mirlitons and eggplant, you can instead brush them with olive oil and bake them on a sheet pan until half-cooked.
YIELD: About 20 four-ounce portions. This recipe is for a large group. Adjust portions according to how much you want to make.
INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds mirlitons (chayote squash)
1 pound eggplant
1 pound onions
4 red bell peppers
2 pounds tomatoes (Tomate Concassée peeled, seeded and chopped)
10 cloves garlic
6 ounces olive oil
2/3 cup chopped parsley (Italian flat)
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons Creole seasoning, or to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Cut the mirlitons in half and scoop out the seed, then slice into 1/2" slices.
Peel the eggplant and slice into 1/2" slices.
Degorgé the eggplant slices to draw out the juices and bitterness (sprinkle them with salt, place in colander to drain for about 30 minutes. Pat with paper towel to get rid of excess liquid).
While the eggplant is draining, slice the onions crossways 1/4" thick, then cut each slice in half to end up with semicircular pieces of onion.
Core and seed the peppers and chop into 1/2" dice.
Chop the garlic.
Prepare the Tomate Concassée, as follows: skin, seed and dice the tomatoes: bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Fill a bowl with cold water and set aside. Remove the stems from the tomatoes and make a shallow, cross-shaped incision in the opposite ends. Gently lower the tomatoes into the boiling water for about 10 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and drop immediately into the bowl of cold water. Peel off the skins with a paring knife. Halve the tomatoes crosswise and squeeze gently to remove the seeds. Cut the flesh into 1 cm (1/4 inch) dice
Brush the mirliton and eggplant slices with olive oil and grill (or bake) until about half-cooked. (Some nice cross-hatch grill marks would be particularly nice.) Sautéé the onions and peppers in the remaining olive oil until half-cooked. Add the garlic, and sautéé for one additional minute.
Cut the grilled mirliton and eggplant slices into large dice.
Combine all the vegetables and seasonings into a heavy saucepan.
Cover and cook in a 350°F oven for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the flavors are well-blended.
If the vegetables are too juicy, cook uncovered on the stove top for a few minutes to reduce, stirring frequently to avoid scorching.
Adjust seasonings. Serve hot or cold.
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½ cup black currants, finely chopped
½ cup Rum
4 ½ - 5 cups self rising flour
½ cup sugar
1 ½ sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 large egg, separated. Reserve yolk, discard white part.
Place currants and Rum in a small bowl. Let sit for at least 15 minutes. Drain, reserve Rum for cake, and set aside.
Using an electric mixer on low speed, combine 4 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and the butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
Add reserved rum and cream, then beat in 4 eggs. Mix just until blended. The dough will be slightly sticky. Dredge the currants in flour, then fold them into dough.
Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Lightly grease a baking sheet. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough gently for 1 minute, adding flour as necessary to achieve a smooth surface. Pat to a thickness of about 3/4 inch. Cut into rounds with a 2 inch biscuit cutter, or cut 4 inch squares into triangles. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
Separate white from yolk. Discard white part. Lightly beat the remaining egg yolk, then brush over the tops of the scones. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup sugar.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Serve hot with sweet butter, raspberry preserves, lemon curd, or fresh whipped cream.
Yield: 12 scones.
Prep time: 20 minutes.
Cook time: 20 minutes.
Scones freeze well. Reheat in microwave. If still frozen, heat for 45 seconds (or until warm) on high.
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1 cup toasted, chopped pecans
1 egg
1/4 cup Brandy
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter (softened)
8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
2 MORE eggs
1 box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Toast pecans. Let them cool before chopping.
Beat egg with Brandy.
Mix cake mix, egg, Brandy, and butter (mixture will be dry).
Moisten hands with water, then press batter into ungreased 9 x 13 pan.
Press pecans into top of batter.
Beat cream cheese, 2 eggs, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until creamy.
Pour over batter already in pan.
Place pan on cookie sheet, to prevent scorching bottom.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to thoroughly cool, before cutting into squares.
Store in container or wrap in foil. (You might want to consider a locked box if you have midnight raiders in your house.)
The squares freeze well. Serve thawed, at room temperature.
Yield: 12-16 squares
Prep time: 15 minutes.
Bake time: 35 minutes.
Cool time, 2 hours or more.
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This will serve a whole bunch of folks!
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 cups of stale french bread, crumbled (bread must be stale to crumble)
• 1 cup raisins
• 4 cups milk
• 4 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, then cubed
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1 stick butter
WHISKEY SAUCE (While the bread pudding is baking, you can prepare the whiskey sauce.)
• 1/2 tablespoon corn starch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Bourbon or Rum
• 1 stick of softened butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease large, clear Pyrex dish.
Combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Beat in the egg until smooth, then work in the milk. Add the vanilla, then the bread. Allow bread to soak up liquid.
Fold in apples and raisins, then put all in the greased pan. Cut butter into pats, then distribute evenly over top of mixture.
Bake for 45 minutes to one hour, or until the pudding has a golden brown color and is firm to the touch. If a toothpick inserted in the pudding comes out clean, it is done. The mixture of pudding should be nice and moist, not runny or dry.
To make the whiskey sauce, cream butter and sugar. Put in double boiler over medium heat.
Whisk corn starch and water together, and add to mixture while whisking. Bring to a boil. Whisk and let simmer for a few seconds (WATCHPOINT: don’t let it burn the mixture on the bottom).
Blend in egg. Remove from stovetop. Add Bourbon.
Taste to make sure the sauce has a thick consistency, a sufficiently sweet taste, and a good whiskey flavor.
Note: New Orleans French bread is very light. If another type bread is used that is too dense, texture will not be correct.
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YIELD: 6 generous servings.
Sometimes people don't realize that there are 2 major Louisiana cuisines, Cajun AND Creole. It can be really confusing, as both use sauces and the "holy trinity" of onion, garlic and green, mild bell pepper ( frequently celery, too).
A LITTLE HISTORY: This is a dish traditionally served on Mondays. Back when there were no washing machines, folks devoted most of Monday to laundry. They didn’t have time to be in the kitchen a long time preparing dinner (remember, they cooked on wood burning stoves, so had NO conveniences like us). The night before, they soaked the dried beans. If they had the money, they might have bought some sausage to add to the dish. If not, they seasoned the beans with ham hock.
In the morning, they put them on to cook most of the day (no, we’re not expecting YOU to do that). Periodically, they would return to the kitchen from washing duties and stir the pot of beans to prevent them from scorching on the bottom (yes, we DO expect you to do that task - stir them occasionally). At the end of the day, the beans would be ready and they prepared the rice. The beans would be served over rice. A simple but filling meal.
Ingredients:
• 2 pounds dry red kidney beans
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 cup or about 5 ribs of celery, finely chopped
• 6 green onions, finely chopped
• 4-6 garlic cloves, finely minced
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
• 1-2 bay leaves
• a dash (or more) of Crystal hot sauce or Tabasco, to taste
• 1 teaspoon Banana Courtyard’s 3-Pep Seasoning Mix
• dash of salt, to taste
• Cajun seasoning to taste
• If you add a dash of liquid smoke, you’ll be mazed at the intensification of flavor!
• OPTIONAL: 1 pound Andouille, smoked or Polish sausage, sliced on the diagonal. Or, add a ham hock for flavor.
Preparation instructions:
Wash and soak beans overnight. Beans must always be covered by water, or they will discolor and may harden.
Drain water from beans and put the beans into a large pot.
Cover them with fresh water and bring to a boil over high heat.
Stir beans well and let them settle into bottom of pot.
Over medium heat, cook 45-minutes to 1 hour until tender, but not mushy. Stir frequently.
While the beans are boiling, sauté your “holy trinity” of onions, celery, bell pepper until the onions turn translucent. Add the garlic and saute for a couple of more minutes, stirring occasionally.
After the beans are boiled and drained, add bell pepper, onions, celery, garlic, and seasonings (if using sausage, add it now).
Add just enough water to cover. Bring items to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hours, or until beans are tender. Stir occasionally, so it doesn't scorch, burn or stick to the bottom of the pot.
Remove from heat. Many New Orleanians prefer their red beans to be creamy. If so, you can puree or mash all through a course strainer.
Serve over just cooked, long grain rice. (This is another of the New Orleans dishes that is more intense in flavor if held overnight, so out in refrigerator and reheat the next day.)
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1 pound butter (leave out until soft)
1 pound sharp cheese, grated
4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of Tabasco Sauce OR cayenne pepper
Mix all ingredients together then place on waxed paper to “rest.” Roll out. Use star shaped bakery tube, cut into long, narrow straws, or make into thin rounds. Bake in 400 degree F oven until lightly browned (about 10 minutes). After cooled, put in airtight container (preferably one with a lock or all will disappear before you’re ready to serve them).
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This is a family recipe. Throw out all of your preconceived notions about fruit cake. This one is so good some of our friends and guests ask us to bake one for them every year!
• 2 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup butter (½ pound)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1 pound bag orange slices (sliced into small pieces)
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 3 ½ cup sifted flour
• 1 pound pitted dates
Prepare 10 inch tube pan -(DO NOT USE BUNDT PAN) by greasing and flouring pan. Place a circle of brown paper on bottom of pan. Brown paper bag works well.
With scissors, cut slices, using some flour to coat scissors.
Cream butter and sugar.
Add eggs. Beat between each addition.
Add buttermilk mixed with soda.
Add remaining flour and mix.
Add slices, dates nuts, etc.
Mix with hands and pour into 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until firm.
TOPPING:
Mix 1 cup of fresh orange juice with 2 cups of confectioners sugar. You may cut this in half if desired. Let cake cool 15-20 minutes. Remove from pan and place in the middle of foil large enough to wrap cake later. Make sure the cake is still warm. Pour topping over warm cake. Can also use pastry brush to completely cover cake. Let cake cool. Wrap in foil to store.
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1 quart oysters
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 bags fresh spinach, cleaned and chopped (OR 2 packages frozen spinach thawed and well drained)
• 1 can chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• ½ 750 ml. bottle of dry white wine (drink the rest while you’re cooking!)
• Pernod or HerbSaint, to taste (This is a special New Orleans, anise-flavored liquor. If you can’t get any, ,substitute ½ teaspoon ground anise seeds.)
• salt and pepper to taste.
Strain oysters, saving their liquid. Puree in processor/blender. In large sauce pan, add white wine, pureed oysters, oyster liquid, onions and celery. Cook 10 minutes on medium heat.
Add chicken stock, seafood seasoning and whipping cream. Whisk together thoroughly. Cook 10 minutes on low heat, add spinach, stir-in. Add liquor and serve.
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• 1 quart (4 cups) fresh peaches
• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 1 quart sweet milk
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 pint whipping cream
Mix all ingredients together and put in ice cream freezer, then freeze.
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This is an old family recipe, that’s been passed down through the years. Most folks serve this as dessert. In Winter, when we’re “in the mood”, we serve this some Sundays as a breakfast treat. (If you ask us “real sweet”, we might make one while you are here!)
We rarely have any left over, as guests have been caught licking their spoons and the bottom of their bowl! No one has been caught, yet, licking the bottom of the trifle bowl.
CUSTARD ingredients:
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 cups whole milk
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
CUSTARD DIRECTIONS:
Beat eggs in a bowl.
In heavy saucepan, put sugar and cornstarch and whisk well. Whisk in beaten eggs, then the milk.
Place pan over moderate heat to cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens (about 4 minutes). CAUTION: If cooked on heat too high, it will curdle or burn and you’ll have to start again.
After thickened, remove pan from heat, blend in vanilla and continue stirring until it’s cooled.
WHIPPED CREAM ingredients:
• 1 cup/half pint whipping cream (Yep. The real thing. No substitutes or the food quality police will come get you!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sugar
WHIPPED CREAM directions:
Chill beaters and bowl. Add all ingredients to bowl. Mix on high speed until stiff.
Now comes the fun part. Making a lovely presentation.
If you have a trifle bowl, you’re in business. If you don’t have a trifle bowl, you can use a cut glass punch bowl or any other clear bowl that will display the fruit between the layers.
TRIFLE ingredients:
• Angel Food or Sponge Cake (if they are a couple of days old they absorb better)
• 1/4 Triple Sec (orange liquor)
• 1 tablespoon dark Rum
• 1 cup strawberries (or more), cut into slices. Save the largest berry, whole, to put in center of top layer. (Throw in a little of whatever else you want, like fresh apricots, peaches, blueberries, or your local fruit/berry.) Reserve a few of the berries for use as garnish, if you need them.
• 1 small can Mandarin Orange slices, drained
• ½ cup Kirschwasser (cherry brandy)
• ½ cup Raspberry or Apricot jam (substitute any other jam or preserve your little heart desires)
• 1/4 cup Marsala, sweet Sherry, or Madeira
• ½ cup drained Maraschino Cherries as garnish
Cut cake into 3 equal layers.
BOTTOM LAYER: Put 1st layer of cake in trifle bowl. Sprinkle with Triple Sec and rum. Add remaining strawberries and ½ orange slices, placing some around the edge, against the glass for color, and some on top of the cake. Also place between layers. Add 1/3 of the custard.
MIDDLE LAYER: Add 2nd layer of cake. Sprinkle with Kirschwasser. Spread with jam and different fruit/berry. Add 1/3 custard and ½ cup of Marsala, sweet sherry, or Madeira.
TOP LAYER: Add 3rd layer of cake, then add fruit, the remaining custard, more Kirschwasser. Spread whipped cream over top, add the drained cherries, and Mandarin orange slices and remaining berries for garnish.
This dish is best when covered (use foil to be sure it doesn’t stick to the cream) and refrigerated for several hours or overnight.
Serving instructions: Use a large, deep spoon to serve. Push it down to the bottom of dish so you get some of ALL the layers in each serving.
Yield: 10 servings.
Prep time: 20-30 minutes.
Chill time: 2 hours or overnight.
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12-16 ounce package of crawfish tail meat (NOTE: crawfish tails are fairly widely available now, in the frozen seafood section, usually in 12 or 16 ounce packages. They are already parboiled, so don't overcook).
• Juice of 1 lemon (for marinade)
• ½ cup white wine (for marinade)
• Two 9-inch pie crusts
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• ½ cup celery, minced
• ½ cup green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons flour
• ½ cup brandy
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ to 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste
• ½ cup milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 1 pie crust (this one will be used for bottom crust) for 6-8 minutes until light golden brown. Let crust cool.
Raise oven temperature to 375 degrees F.
Melt butter and oil in a large skillet. Sauté onions, celery, bell pepper, Creole seasoning, and salt over medium heat. Stir for 4 minutes, until vegetables begin to soften.
Add flour. Mix this well. Cook for a few more minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the crawfish. Add brandy. Flame to burn off alcohol.
Add garlic, then cook for a few more minutes.
Add the hot sauce, and cook a few minutes more.
Stir in the milk. Stir while heating milk to thicken slightly. Remove from burner.
Pour mixture into the browned 9 inch pie crust. Put 2nd (non browned) pie crust on top Press down on edges of crusts to seal. Slash top crust 3-4 times to vent.
Place pie on cookie sheet in oven to prevent bottom from over browning. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, or until the top crust is lightly browned.
Let cool to room temperature before slicing. Serve immediately.
This pie freezes well. Wrap in 2 layers of foil before putting in freezer.
To serve: thaw (still wrapped in foil), then warm for 10 minutes in medium heat oven. Remove foil, then bake for 8 minutes more.
Yield: 6 slices.
Prep time: 20-25 minutes
Baking time: 15-20 minutes.
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